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Show DAILY THE CHRONICLE UTAH Jt JUL' J: i CI ho) I r E3 N1 i 03(0) 4 J Mtiutfutf Deaf and EtttfififiMv dktttiv Imagine you are traveling in a foreign country, and you just don't communicate the same way everyone else does. It's no big deal to you, but when other people are exposed to your language, they call you a name. It's not gringo, or yankee. You get called disabled that poor American who was born without the right language programmed into his or her DNA. To you, this is absurd. But to others, it seems to make perfect sense. This scenario is similar to the way deaf students experience the University of Utah, except no distant travel is required. Christian Deater, a deaf freshman majoring in has a message for those who mis- pre-me- d, "J i.. i I J C Ei3 "j I. Students Are a Language Minority at the U Hard-of-Hear- ing WENDY MAUGHAN Chronicle Feature Writer Trp Co 1 "The prospective employers almost never hire deaf people," he said. Currently, Deater is unemployed. "I believe the Career Center at colleges or universities need to be trained...about deaf and issues and how to assist deaf students in finding a job," said Jodi Kinner, an adviser at Salt Lake Community College's Disability Resource Center. She has noticed that Utah rates of deaf employment are behind the rest of the nation. Her office works to aid about 30 deaf or students enrolled. Currently, the U has only four such students. "It seems to me that there is a small number of deaf and students at the U because of strict enrollment," said Kinner, who is deaf herself. "I am hoping that some of my students will transfer there to further their education in spite of their academic challenges" Jeff Pollock would be happy to aid deaf transfer students in their university experience. Deaf as well, he works as a disabilities adviser at the U's Center for Disability Services. "The deaf are a language minority. They don't really like to be under the disabilities office, but that's the way it is," he said. Pollock makes sure the university obeys the American Disabilities Act, an intricate code requiring accommodations for all reasonable student and employee needs. But meeting the right need at the right time is not simple. "Accommodations depend on the person. For people who are deaf and use sign language, we provide interpreters and notetak-erSome deaf students prefer real-tim- e captioning, which is basically a court reporter or stenographer typing ip everything that is being said by the professor," he said. for visual media, an expensive process costing thousands of dollars, is another option. "We get a budget from higher up, and it's used for interpreters," Pollock said. To add to every older video would break the budget. While most new videos contain virtually no older videos do. "Teachers often use visual media, but it doesn't make sense without the sound. We need said Adam a deaf senior majoring in public relations. Pollock coordinates interpreters so that Christianson can benefit from an Introduction to Visual Media class. The course teaches the basics of TV production, including the elements of audio. Clips from old films illustrating both visual and audio effects are used extensively. None of them have Instead, Christianson must keep one eye on the film, and one eye on the interpreter. During lab sessions, group activities present special challenges to Christianson as hard-of-heari- ng hard-of-heari- hard-of-heari- ng ng s. Closed-captioni- closed-captioni- "I don't think teachers know what we need," Christianson said. "There is a difference between us...Teachers don't realize that our visual needs are different from their auditory needs." To bridge that difference, Christianson isn't afraid to speak up. He introduces himself to teachers when a course begins, so they know "V he is deaf. f "If a situation arises where they forget. I am willing to approach the teacher again and tell him or her what I nee3 he said. The importah.ce of deafstudents finding their voice, as Christiansoh.does, is para- mount. According to the American DisabiH-- 4 ties Act, it is the deaf person's responsibility to make needs known. Once this is done, the teacher must respond appropriately. "The key to the ADA is "reasonable accommodations,' and I have never had any trouble being reasonable in assisting my students " said Professor Nick Burns, Christianson's Introduction to Visual Media teacher. "Specific assignments or production job duties may have to be In other words, during 4 student filming assignment, Christianson caQ run the camera instead of the sound recorder Sound doesn't have to remain a myitery to the deaf and , Many students turn to Cued S t ech, 2 phonetic signing system. This typeof system is based on actual sounds instead ofyjrds, with eight hand shapes as the basis. Transliterators those who can wriu in the letters of another alphabet can lei;r the essentials of Cued Speech in a course. After that, it takes practice, practice, practice to become certified. David Burrow, a biology hard-of-hearin- g. o-d- ay hard-of-heari- major, caiibear well enough to have private conversations. With the background noise in class, lioweveij he needs the help of Cued Speech. Lip reading only gives him 33 percent of the Information, at best. "I can guess what you will say next in a conversation," Barrow said. "With a professor, there it too much new information. I can't guess what he will say." "You-cause it to transliterate a different even if you don't speak it," said language, Katrine Clark, a transliterator. Regional and foreign accents can be conveyed, is well as soynd effects like a police Irejjgpassing. The method is used widely in the eastern United States, but is used only occasionally in the West. Although Cued Speech is universal and simple, it does not have the cultural advan' tages of American Sign Language' hot do deaf realize that the "Many people a shares common community language jmd a common culture just like other minority groups," Kinner said. In other words, those who use Cued Speech may miss out on the common, language and community of ASL speakers. J There is one thing shared by all deaf and students, however. That is the goal of making it t a hearing world a world which place's the burden of proof on the shoulders of d: 'graduates. 4 me when I was young, "Many pec; I? 'You can't fLj" 5; .its, you can't become a doctor. I V.sxc to them wrong," Deater 1 said. According to Dcztcz, becoming a surgeon isn't about making money it's about making a ? hard-of-heari- ng pr-"?- ... a statement wmaughanchronicle.vtah.edu ng ng 41 i SV J Try. VA Ci TPiO l 3 ng i i fed 1 1 r i - : closed-captionin- g, Chris-tianso- closed-captioning- ," David Burrow, a Cued Speech in his hard-of-heari- ng student, uses classes. label his language. closed-captionin- g. "Deaf people can do anything; I want to become a surgeon. Deaf people are not disabled, they just can't hear," he said. This message is hard to tell potential employers. In high school, Deater turned in more than 50 applications before finding a job at a golf course. And getting that job was tricky. "I got interviewed, and they decided not to hire me. But my friend who already worked there explained that I could do the job. So they interviewed me again," he explained. This time, the interviewer admitted to safety concerns. He said deafness could cause Deater to get hit by a golf ball. After a short discussion alleviating; the concern, Deater was hired. ; Now, after moving in with roommates near the U, another job search looms. walked into was a ta'cle of baby Ts little for you men out there) with tight sn American the front and Guess? a Jeans written below. Scpt. Frihtenirgly enough, I started to say "fcwv.e, cute!" in tpkal female shopper fashion before reason smacked mc in the n, well. "In groups, many people talk at the same time, but I can only look one place at a time," he said. "And the interpreter can only interpret for one person at a time," Pollock added. Class challenges are sometimes complicated by teachers. A teacher may unwittingly block the line of sight between the student and interpreter. Or, more commonly, a teacher will forget about the interpreter and talk too quickly. Signing at breakneck speed for long periods of time is tiring. Students experience "eye fatigue," and interpreters' arms get heavy. 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